Texas State Capitol
A Simplistic View of History Further Simplified; Evidently Wars Don't Have Unintended Consequences
RECEIVED Mon., June 6, 2005
Dear Editor,
Mr. Deutsch takes me to task for not placing the collaboration of leading Western industrialists ahead of the peace movement in aiding the rise of Nazi Germany [“Postmarks Online,” May 27]. He is correct that those industrialists absolutely did contribute to that rise. But when the Japanese occupied Manchuria in 1931 (the real start of World War II) and the Germans annexed Austria and remilitarized the Rhineland, it was direct political pressure by a massive peace movement (not a few "peaceniks") that forced a feeble, pathetic response by Britain, France, and the U.S. – the only nations capable of preventing the conflict it eventually became. The S.S. St. Louis was turned away, and its Jewish passengers sent to their deaths due to pressure from Republican isolationists strongly allied with the peace movement. Like many in these movements, they didn't want to get involved. I do not assert that the peace movement caused World War II, only that the movement caused it to be worse than it might have been had the Western powers not been prevented from stopping the threat earlier. That other factors created the circumstances that allowed for the rise of the Nazis' and Japan's militarists is not denied, nor is it part of this discussion. Peace movements, just like other movements, often have unintended consequences. Unfortunately, they cannot be wished away just because their motives were pure.
Mr. Deutsch takes me to task for not placing the collaboration of leading Western industrialists ahead of the peace movement in aiding the rise of Nazi Germany [“Postmarks Online,” May 27]. He is correct that those industrialists absolutely did contribute to that rise. But when the Japanese occupied Manchuria in 1931 (the real start of World War II) and the Germans annexed Austria and remilitarized the Rhineland, it was direct political pressure by a massive peace movement (not a few "peaceniks") that forced a feeble, pathetic response by Britain, France, and the U.S. – the only nations capable of preventing the conflict it eventually became. The S.S. St. Louis was turned away, and its Jewish passengers sent to their deaths due to pressure from Republican isolationists strongly allied with the peace movement. Like many in these movements, they didn't want to get involved. I do not assert that the peace movement caused World War II, only that the movement caused it to be worse than it might have been had the Western powers not been prevented from stopping the threat earlier. That other factors created the circumstances that allowed for the rise of the Nazis' and Japan's militarists is not denied, nor is it part of this discussion. Peace movements, just like other movements, often have unintended consequences. Unfortunately, they cannot be wished away just because their motives were pure.
Scott Sexton